Chosen Instrument
When I hear the word instrument, I think about a beautiful piece of music played by a talented artist. Composers like Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart created some of the most stunning compositions. With these compositions, you have gifted musicians directed by these world-famous composers. The artist is being used to create something otherworldly with their music. Our focus today is no different from those composers. When people are connected with the Spirit, God uses them as his chosen instrument to bring about his plan for his created world. The focal point of our study today is a man named Ananias.
Not much is known about the disciple living in Damascus, Ananias, except that he received a vision from God.
“Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.””
There is only one other mention of Ananias in the New Testament, later in the book of Acts, when Paul recounts his conversion story to the Jews. (Ac 22.12) Other than those two times, we never receive any more information about him, but in only a few verses, we learn a great deal about his character and faith.
At the end of the verse, you will notice the words, “Here I am. Lord.” It is a response used in several places in the Bible to show people’s readiness for what God would do in their lives. The time that God called Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son, whom he loved very much, Abraham responded to God’s prompting with his readiness. (Gen 22.1-2) When God called Moses to free the Israelites from bondage, he had the same readiness as Abraham. (Ex 3.4) Finally, you had the moment of Samuel in the temple, ready to do the bidding of God. (1 Sam 3.4,6,8) The common thread between all of these accounts is the response of a servant—someone prepared to do what their master asked of them at the moment. In this case, God called on his people to fulfill his movement here on earth. All of these men were willing to listen to God in their moments of fear, and in the case of Ananias, there was great concern for his life. We need to catch up with the biblical narrative to see why he was so fearful because God had called him to aid a person known for capturing believers of The Way. (Ac 9.13-14)
We need to understand the man that he was going to see, and his name was Saul. He was known to followers of The Way as someone who persecuted them, put them in prison, and even helped to kill them. (Ac 8.1) It was after the death of Steven (Ac 7.58) that Saul began his devastation of the church.
“But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would drag away men and women and put them in prison.”
Gamaliel, a Pharisee by trade, was the man that trained Saul in the law and made him into a zealot for God. (Ac 22.3) Saul was the one rounding up believers to stop the movement of Christ. Right before we get to Ananias’ vision from God, Saul encounters Jesus on the way to Damascus.
“and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.””
At this moment, the light of Jesus literally blinds Saul, and his eyes are opened to the justification that comes from faith. (Ac 9.8) It is the ultimate turning point in his life, where we eventually see Saul, who would become the paramount missionary to the Gentiles. Saul is better known by his Gentile name, Paul. The writer of Acts, a disciple named Luke, started referring to Saul as Paul—possibly to help him relate to the Gentile-Roman world he was ministering to. (Ac 13.9) [1] Paul became one of the great missionaries of the church, and many of his writings were canonized into the New Testament, but he had a troublesome past concerning believers. This past made Ananias fearful for his life because word had been circulated that Saul was rounding up the believers.
“But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.””
In the back of his mind, he had to believe he was walking into the lion’s den. Saul was a bad man, and any believer in The Way tried to stay as far away from him as possible. It is interesting the response God gives Ananias, and it is not a message of comfort or anything that would ease his fears about the imprisonment that may come from the hands of Saul—instead, he answers with an action verb and an indication of God’s plan for Saul.
“But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.””
Ananias is just told to “go” because the Lord has called him to do so. The one whom he went to was to be a “chosen instrument,” of God to bring the good news of Jesus to the Gentiles, kings, and the sons of Israel. The Greek word Luke uses skeuos, translated as a vessel, implement, or a chosen instrument.[2] At the core, what Luke is stating about Saul is God would use all of him to fulfill his mission—his body, mind, and spirit would be filled with the Spirit of God for the resolution of enacting his mission here on earth. In this case, the body would be filled like a vessel to do the will of God, but part of that equation is Saul’s willingness to trust in God.
What does it look like to be a chosen instrument of God?
It is not our status or privilege that grants us favor from God but our willingness to be a vessel for God when we are called to do a job.[3] Ananias walked into the biblical narrative for just a few verses, but because of his wiliness to be a vessel for God, his impact remains today. Paul is remembered as one of the great heroes of the New Testament in part because Ananias was willing to be faithful to the call God made on his life at that moment. Let us not forget; it was not Ananias that changed the heart of Saul. That was Jesus; Ananias was only faithful to the Spirit at the moment. Not every story of change will happen like that of Paul’s conversion, but we trust the small moments we have with people can make a significant impact as they did with Ananias.
We are faithful; God is the force of change.
God has called all of us to be his chosen instrument in this life, to be the ones that bring the good news to the people. When we trust and are in line with the Spirit, we see the hand of God moving in the people around us every day. To be a vessel for God, we need to be filled by the Spirit—it is impossible to partner with God when we are disconnected from God. Like a musician with an instrument, we can play God’s great composition here in his creation.
[1] Charles W. Carter, “The Acts of the Apostles,” in Matthew-Acts, vol. 4, The Wesleyan Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966), Logos.566. While “Saul” was his Jewish name, now that his ministry has carried him into contact with the official Roman world, in which empire he has legal citizenship, it is both to his personal advantage and that of the Kingdom of Christ which he represents to be officially known as “Paul.” Again, hereafter the order of names presented by Luke is usually Paul and Barnabas, instead of Barnabas and Saul as before, thus indicating the prominence of leadership into which Paul had entered.[2] "G4632 - skeuos - Strong's Greek Lexicon (nasb95)." Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 30 May, 2023. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4632/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/[3] William H. Willimon, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988), Logos. 78. “The Lord’s disciples are not only the prominent “heroes” of the faith like Peter or Philip but also ordinary folk like Ananias, who walk on stage for a particular mission and then exit as the story moves on. Ministry is a function (a job to do for the Lord) more than a status or a privilege.”
